So today a tC came in to have the OEM body kit installed on it. Apparently for the sideskirts you just pull the stock ones off and put on the "body kit" ones. Well funny thing is a lot of the time when you install aftermarket stuff for the Scions they throw away the stock parts. So I totally have 2 nearly brand new stock tC side skirts which may come in handy some day should I find someone who was unfortunate enough to have damaged theirs.

Too bad I never see xAs come in for any of the "aftermarket" type goodies. You xB and tC guys are lucky!

 

isnt the customer supposed to get the stock parts back?

 

Yeah, that's definately shady. Did you even ask the customer if they wanted them back?

 

I'm not the one who installed them, I just saved them from the dumpster. I don't know what a customer would do with them. Most people don't work on their own cars, why would they care.

And whos to say the customer was not asked and said they didn't want them? Our dealership is the best in the area for being good to our customers. I don't think anyone would rip off parts from customers.

 

According to Scion HQ it is mandatory to provide the OEM parts to the customer. This is a no brainer because first of all, they already paid a lot of money for them, and second, what if they want to revert or their new body kit gets damaged? Well now they don't have the sideskirts and have to buy them again from the factory. Basically you're toting around stolen merchandise. Good job

 

Not all customers are like us... There's a lot of people who don't want extra junk in their house. My sister works at a Honda dealership and people just give away their stock rims because they got aftermarket rims installed...

 

That's besides the point. The customer should get back what he originally paid for regardless of whether they want it or not. If they don't want it, they should tell the dealer to discard it but the customer should still be asked whether or not they want to keep it.

What if the new sideskirts get damaged and they want to revert back to the stock sideskirts?

 

Thank you for backing my point. Now if the dealership asked the customer if they wanted to keep it BEFORE disposing of them, well that's a different story. But just assuming that someone wants their $550+ sideskirts tossed is extremely reckless and can swiftly plant you behind bars if you try to take and/or resell them. (Not pointing the finger of blame, but be careful with stuff that you think got set aside as "garbage")

 

Stolen merchandise that was put out to the dumpster? So taking garbage is stealing to you?

If you tC owners want to revert back to "stock" from the body kit you need at least a brand new rear bumper because the rear bumper has holes drilled into it and slots cut to mount the lip to it. Not a pretty sight unless that lip is covering it up.

I'm not trying to say not giving back or not asking the customer is not the right thing, but I'm just stating that I had no part in anything other than pulling this stuff from a dumpster.

 

Again, not pointing the finger of blame. The reason I bring this up is because the dealership did the same thing with my Matrix. I ordered the kit, they installed it, and one of the guys went home with my sideskirts. When I came back I asked where my original sideskirts were and they told me that one of the techs said that I told them they could have it. Well, long story short, the guy got arrested and I was sent a new set of sideskirts. Just be careful dude.

 

Hmm... I am not blaming you back in black... but being a customer myself... I would prefer to have been asked whether I want them or not. Most customers may not even know that they have the option to keep the original parts. I think its shady when the dealer does not ask or mention it... I don't know what happened in this case but I hope it was the customer's choice.

I am getting my TRD springs installed and I specifically asked my dealer to save my original springs... just in case I plan to sell the car... or if I wreck my TRD springs.

 

Well, long story short, the guy got arrested and I was sent a new set of sideskirts. Just be careful dude.[/quote]

wow, things have changed in concord since I was out there. 10 years ago you would have been given a new set of side skirts and a free oil change for your time. the terd would have just been fired. but arrested, now that is justice.

oh, i find it easier and causes less miscommunication to dicuss with the service writter what I want back up front. they put it in writting and no one goes to jail.

 

I would certainly return them right away if someone wanted them back. I'm not looking to take advantage of people.

My idea was since these are an expensive part I figured maybe if one of you guys ever had a mishap like your skirt got all scratched up or something, and of course you want your new car looking pristine, that someone such as myself would be able to help you out. I'm not trying to sell them for $300 or anything outrageous. I just wanted to save them from the dumpster because throwing away anything useful is nearly a sin in my opinion. So is stealing but like I said I didn't take these with the mindset to rip them off. If someone said the customer wanted them back I would give them back right away. But I just don't think that is going to happen so they are going to live at my house for a while.

 

you could always do some minor bodywork and touchup painting to the bumper to cover the holes instead of getting an entirely new bumper.

 

You would have to bondo or fiberglass over the holes. The slots are about 2'' wide and 1 cm tall. You would have to have the entire bumper repainted to make it look right, touch up paint would look horrible. All the work and cost of that could buy you a new bumper.

Either way the point was its not like the kit just pops off, there is modifications made to the body of the car to make it fit.

 

I am with you all the way Black In Black

I "think" the point that is being addressed here is whether the customer gets the CHOICE of getting the OEM parts or not.

If I were in your position I would have done exactly what you did. As an aside, even if you sold the dumpster parts on E-Bay would be just fine with me. It was garbage to the dealership and you just took it out of the garbage. Case closed here.

Now to the real issue........ OEM parts are the customers and the customer needs to make the decision what to do with 'em.

 

In all the official Scion installation instructions I've seen, whenever a stock piece is removed and not needed again it says "Remove and discard". I have a feeling the instructions for the side skirts say the same thing. Also, if you went into a dealer and they had a tC with the factory body kit already installed, do you think you would get the stick side skirts as well? I don't.

 

I guess it's common courtesy to first ask the customer, they did pay for the stock skirts. Some would like to take em and sell em on eBay, majority of people dont have room. Anyone really puts a car in a garage now a days? :D

 

Did anyone read the part where backinblackxA said he DIDN'T KNOW if the customer had been asked. How about we assume that the customer was asked and said they didn't want them...

Good job dude. Saved them from getting tossed in a landfill after all the time, energy and $$ went into making them in the first place. And you can make a little money AND save someone a little money - WIN-WIN-WIN

I do that all the time. When we got our new AS400 server, the consultant went thru the room and discarded all the old stuff they no longer needed. I picked up a couple of cables that were brand new, still in their original boxes, went to the PC and searched for the part # on eBay. Saw there were several listed and getting bids so I grabbed them all and sold them.

On the flipside, be choosy with what you take. The sideskirts are good, someone will need those, stock springs will probably never be needed... for example.
BTW, Anybody need a moderately outdated server? OK, Majorly outdated... :oops:

 

One thing I was thinking was if you buy a tC from the factory or any Scion for that matter your going to pay $$$ for the options but since they come on the car that is delivered to you I personally have never seen a box in the trunks full of all the base model stock stuff. If you order your xB with different tail lights you pay the same amount that you would if you had them put on at the dealer and when you order from the factory you get no stock parts. I have never heard anyone say they cared about that. You are paying like 2x as much for a lot of Scion accessories because you never get the old ones back.

Personally if you get any of the options from the factory that replaces another stock part (tail lights, alloy wheels, colored steering wheel, shift *****, etc...) they never give you the stock parts. So anyone who ordered anything from the factory was ripped off.